The present disclosure relates generally to sensing one or more fluid parameters. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems, devices, and methods for accurately measuring fluid flow velocity and/or other fluid parameters at high/low velocities and/or at indirect angular flows relative to a measurement probe.
Fluid flow velocity measurements are typically determined by measuring pressure using some variation of a Pitot tube. The accuracy of these measurements, however, may be limited at high/low fluid flow velocities and/or in conditions when the flow is not parallel to the measuring device. For example, in aircraft or marine craft applications, measurement accuracy may suffer when the craft is changing direction or otherwise inducing pitch and/or yaw angles, such as during intense maneuvering or in loss of control situations, which are often among the situations where reliable data is typically most needed.
In order to operate in such dynamic fluid flow environments, typical fluid flow sensor systems require multiple sensors positioned at separate locations on the craft or other measuring structure as well as complex compensation calculations to interpret the separate readings and compensate for angular flow errors in the sensor output. The requirement of multiple sensors and the necessity of gathering and interpreting separate signals into a meaningful measurement undesirably adds to the cost and complexity of fluid sensing, particularly in dynamic fluid flow environments.
In addition, typical devices used for measuring fluid flow parameters are configured to measure a single parameter only and/or are unable to provide accurate readings at high/low fluid flow velocities and/or indirect flow angles. Typical systems intended to measure more than one fluid parameter may thus require multiple sensors, and the use of multiple sensors may result in readings that are not common to a localized area and/or that are not simultaneous, limiting the usefulness of the resulting readings for measuring certain fluid parameters.
Furthermore, inaccuracy of typical devices used for measuring angular fluid flow parameters propagates into estimation of local wind velocity and causes overestimation or underestimation of the wind speed.